There is no fear in love.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. . .” 1 John 4:18

This slow Saturday morning I went to pour my coffee when I noticed– my mug was broken and coffee trickled through its cracks and splattered onto the counter. Already one of those mornings, I sighed quiet to to myself as I mopped the small mess.

I began to pour my coffee into an unbroken mug as I thought– this week has me feeling a little cracked and broken, too. Maybe you’re feeling the same way.

So much shaming and slandering and mudslinging and rock throwing and perhaps the most pervasive word of all: fear. Fear is no stranger to me. Its shadow has hovered over my life since I was small.

When the Dallas police shootings happened this summer, the shadow of fear that obliquely followed suddenly became bold. Fear had gripped me strong before but never had it punched me flat on my back as it did that day. I sought God for answers. I fervently knocked on His door.

From this I learned: too many times when I am shackled with fear it’s because I am listening to the wrong voices. Lies are like lures– they draw us in; they capture us only to keep us down. Lies magnify our fears so that we can’t recognize our faith. Fear itself is a lie: a powerful and paralyzing weapon forged to keep us from putting our full faith in God, whatever comes.